Archives for 2014

Nowadays who doesn’t google? OK, maybe you Bing or Yahoo! something, but online search is a go-to source for all kinds of information — including market research. Market researchers often search the web for information about competitors, customers, and general market trends. But as more data appears on the web, being skilled at search is helpful in almost any job. Here at Learn the 4 Ps, we have posted on this topic before, but I found some new tips in “ 10 research tips for finding answers online ” (TED Blog, October 2, 2014) you might find helpful.

As regular readers of Learn the 4 Ps know, we are big advocates of students (or any job seeker for that matter) writing their own personal marketing plan. Marketing students should be particularly adept at developing a job plan. Click here for all our posts on this topic. It is getting to a point where it is hard for me to find good new tips. This article at Fast Company “ 7 Tips for Job Seekers That Hiring Managers Secretly Want You to Know ” (November 11, 2014) offers some insights I had not seen before. Go ahead and develop your plan — and good luck with that job search.

This morning I listened to an interesting radio story about how video game makers use concepts from behavioral science to enhance games’ addictiveness (see “ This Is Your Brain on Candy Crush ,” NPR Morning Edition, October 9, 2014). Clearly the path to video game breakout rests in creating an addictive experience. It left me wondering about the ethics of creating addictive games. It certainly raises questions — especially when you hear how hard gaming companies work on this. So what do you think? Are these video game makers acting unethically? What should they do differently?

How are you developing the “ 10 Most Important Work Skills in 2020 ?” This infographic identifies six drivers of change — and the 10 skills you will need. Are you taking classes, volunteering, doing extra curricular activities, or working in ways that will foster development of these skills? Why not? What about in a marketing class. What can marketing professors do in their classes to better foster these skills?

If you are looking for a job — or writing a personal marketing plan — then it getting tips from hiring managers can be valuable. This short article on LinkedIn will give you “ 5 Interviewing Tips from Hiring Managers ” (September 2, 2014).

As you may know, big data and predictive modeling are getting pretty darn good at predicting the brands or products an individual might want to buy. It is not hard to imagine a day (perhaps not not too far into the future) where retailers are so good at predicting that they know what we want or need before we do. Target stores already knows what brand of shampoo a customer buys — and that they buy it once a month. So what if they just placed an order for us and shipped it out? Would people be interested in this service? [Continue Reading …]